What’s the WORST fitness advice you’ve ever heard?

tejas109

I'll go first. When I was 19 I went to the doctor because of some knee pain I was feeling from my runs. The doctors advice was to stop running all together. No mention of exercises/treatment to help return back to running, just stop doing it.

dashoonage

Crossfit

Patsy167

tejas109 wrote: »

I'll go first. When I was 19 I went to the doctor because of some knee pain I was feeling from my runs. The doctors advice was to stop running all together. No mention of exercises/treatment to help return back to running, just stop doing it.

"If something causes pain, stop doing it" is fairly sound advice as a preventative measure to stop the problem becoming worse.

A plan to work or around the issue would have been good, but you've got off lightly if that really is the worst advice you have heard.

I'm always surprised to hear females avoiding weights over a fear of becoming bulky while most lads slaving away in the gym for years are dreaming of one day gaining an ounce of muscle!

Cill94

So much crap over the years, it's hard to choose a winner.

When I was in 2nd or 3rd year, my rugby coach encouraged us all not to drink water during training sessions, as our bodies would become too dependant on it.

Also after injuring my shoulder in rugby (most likely a torn labrum), I went to see a 'shoulder specialist' doctor. He encouraged me to keep playing and lifting weights (despite the pain) and gave me a cortisone injection. I later found out that cortisone injections should be last resort as they can do permanent damage to connective tissue.

Dtp1979

To make sure and take your protein shake within 15 mins after your workout

iguana

Patsy167 wrote: »

I'm always surprised to hear females avoiding weights over a fear of becoming bulky while most lads slaving away in the gym for years are dreaming of one day gaining an ounce of muscle!

Plenty of women build muscle easily while many men don’t. People, male and female, with mesomorphic body types build muscle easily. I’m a short mesomorph and become visibly muscular really easily. I think that rather than try to minimize the likelihood of a woman gaining muscle, we should be pushing the notion that if you build muscle easily it’s because that’s how your body is meant to be.

Alf Veedersane

iguana wrote: »

Plenty of women build muscle easily while many men don’t. People, male and female, with mesomorphic body types build muscle easily. I’m a short mesomorph and become visibly muscular really easily. I think that rather than try to minimize the likelihood of a woman gaining muscle, we should be pushing the notion that if you build muscle easily it’s because that’s how your body is meant to be.

I dont disagree but I dont think that's quite what he's talking about. Being more toned and appearing more muscular is different to appearing to be bulky with big muscles

iguana

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

I dont disagree but I dont think that's quite what he's talking about. Being more toned and appearing more muscular is different to appearing to be bulky with big muscles

I’m bulky enough that I’ve gotten a few ‘concerned’ comments about how I’m in danger of looking like a man. Which I’m fairly sure is exactly what most women who worry about getting too muscular don’t want. Jessica Ennis has even admitted to concerns at times about the muscularity of her arms.

caviardreams

I would also say there' s a bigger issue of some women not wanting to look "bulky" largely because society will judge them for it, rather than it necessarily being their preference e.g. the risk of attracting the "concerned" comments like you mention iguana, even if they might be happy looking like that themselves.

Alf Veedersane

iguana wrote: »

I’m bulky enough that I’ve gotten a few ‘concerned’ comments about how I’m in danger of looking like a man. Which I’m fairly sure is exactly what most women who worry about getting too muscular don’t want. Jessica Ennis has even admitted to concerns at times about the muscularity of her arms.

To be fair, an elite level, professional athlete with three Worlds and and an Olympic gold isn't the best example for the general population though.

The vast majority won't look bulky doing general resistance training.

Insect Overlord

tejas109 wrote: »

I'll go first. When I was 19 I went to the doctor because of some knee pain I was feeling from my runs. The doctors advice was to stop running all together. No mention of exercises/treatment to help return back to running, just stop doing it.

Is this not the first chapter of Born To Run by Christopher McDougall?

iguana

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

To be fair, an elite level, professional athlete with three Worlds and and an Olympic gold isn't the best example for the general population though.

The vast majority won't look bulky doing general resistance training.

I don't think Ennis has ever remotely looked bulky. She's the very definition of toned and muscular. But even someone like Ennis who looked like she did when competing because she had honed her body to best serve her goals, still felt at times like her arms were too muscular because the majority of women have learned on some level that we shouldn't look like that.

Alf Veedersane

iguana wrote: »

I don't think Ennis has ever remotely looked bulky. She's the very definition of toned and muscular. But even someone like Ennis who looked like she did when competing because she had honed her body to best serve her goals, still felt at times like her arms were too muscular because the majority of women have learned on some level that we shouldn't look like that.

I don't think she looked bulky either. I was just tying it back to the poster's point about looking bulky. And I agree that the thinking needs to be recalibrated.

But your average person is not going to look like a professional, elite athlete from training 2/3/4 times a week anyway.

Mellor

iguana wrote: »

I don't think Ennis has ever remotely looked bulky. She's the very definition of toned and muscular. But even someone like Ennis who looked like she did when competing because she had honed her body to best serve her goals, still felt at times like her arms were too muscular because the majority of women have learned on some level that we shouldn't look like that.

I agree that she shouldn't have felt like that. I think she looked great. And it's not right if she feels like that because of others, or a "learned" response. However, it's also not right for anybody to tell her how she feels isn't right or real either.

But that said, when women say "I don't want to do weights because I don't want to get bulky/muscular/masculine", in the vast majority they aren't imagining Jessica Ennis but rather female bodybuilders types.

Macy0161

So much diet/ food stuff I wouldn't even know where to begin. Every thread on every forum seems to be derailed by people spouting "facts" that have no real scientific backing. Some people are like religious fundamentalists in their belief in their diet, despite a lack of evidence.

TP_CM

The first exposure I ever had to the gym was a bodybuilder housemate. I was over 6 ft and 64Kg. I was an absolute rake. He brought me in and using Protein, Creatine, and all the rest (no roids though), I packed on quite a lot of weight. For the whole of my 20s I did nothing but chest on Mondays, back and arms on Tuesday, Legs on Wednesday and so on. No stretching or cardio.

Now I'm in my 30s and I have zero flexibility. No pain thank god, but moving around is difficult because I just don't have the range of motion. I'm stiff as be-damned. I wish more than anything I had met a calisthenics person back then instead of a bodybuilder. I'm trying to get into it, but I have a very long road ahead, and finding the right starting point is quite hard.

Cill94

Macy0161 wrote: »

So much diet/ food stuff I wouldn't even know where to begin. Every thread on every forum seems to be derailed by people spouting "facts" that have no real scientific backing. Some people are like religious fundamentalists in their belief in their diet, despite a lack of evidence.

The belly fat threads are the worst for this

bladespin

Dieting makes you gain weight is a current leader for me, closely followed by feeling hungry = eating disorder. Yikes.


Not very pro diets but still.

Black Sheep

Worst advice...

I'll have to go with the old chestnut that squatting and deadlifting heavy will ruin your back and knees.

I still get offered that one, last week in a changing room at work was the last time. By a guy who probably couldn't squat the bar alone to depth.

TP_CM wrote: »

The first exposure I ever had to the gym was a bodybuilder housemate. I was over 6 ft and 64Kg. I was an absolute rake. He brought me in and using Protein, Creatine, and all the rest (no roids though), I packed on quite a lot of weight. For the whole of my 20s I did nothing but chest on Mondays, back and arms on Tuesday, Legs on Wednesday and so on. No stretching or cardio.

Now I'm in my 30s and I have zero flexibility. No pain thank god, but moving around is difficult because I just don't have the range of motion. I'm stiff as be-damned. I wish more than anything I had met a calisthenics person back then instead of a bodybuilder. I'm trying to get into it, but I have a very long road ahead, and finding the right starting point is quite hard.

Ah sure look, who knows though... Had you had a room-mate who was into callisthenics and bodyweight training you might be on here now lamenting that you are still 64kg and look like a scarecrow...

I would say it's easier to acquire mobility in your 30s and onward than it is to gain muscle mass...

Insect Overlord

Probably not the worst thing ever, but one that I'll never forget was the Gaelic football coach we had one season who wouldn't let us use footballs until he thought we were fit enough. We had weeks and weeks of military-inspired runs up and down the pitch and the odd bit of sprinting. Our football skills went to hell and we had no tactical work at all, morale dropped, and it was something of a miracle that we weren't relegated back down to Junior A that season.

Yuser.

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Probably not the worst thing ever, but one that I'll never forget was the Gaelic football coach we had one season who wouldn't let us use footballs until he thought we were fit enough. We had weeks and weeks of military-inspired runs up and down the pitch and the odd bit of sprinting. Our football skills went to hell and we had no tactical work at all, morale dropped, and it was something of a miracle that we weren't relegated back down to Junior A that season.

Pat Spillane said recently everything should be done with the ball

He was probably right

Patsy167

Yuser. wrote: »

Pat Spillane said recently everything should be done with the ball

He was probably right

Might not be a popular opinion but as a supporter and and former player, the main reason I see lower level club teams in soccer/GAA doing badly is because the Fitness just isn't up to scratch.

Our Saturday league soccer team would fool ourselves pinning defeats on skills and tactics when the truth was that the average BF% and cardio of the team was nowhere near acceptable. I would have loved to seen stats on goals conceded in the last 20 mins, half of us were off our feet.

Ball work is important and should be mixed in (zero ball work is silly, specificity etc etc) but I think fitness correlates much better with overall team performance than skill at the lower levels (Junior,intermediate, Saturday/Sunday League)

Alf Veedersane

Patsy167 wrote: »

Might not be a popular opinion but as a supporter and and former player, the main reason I see lower level club teams in soccer/GAA doing badly is because the Fitness just isn't up to scratch.

Our Saturday league soccer team would fool ourselves pinning defeats on skills and tactics when the truth was that the average BF% and cardio of the team was nowhere near acceptable. I would have loved to seen stats on goals conceded in the last 20 mins, half of us were off our feet.

Ball work is important and should be mixed in (zero ball work is silly, specificity etc etc) but I think fitness correlates much better with overall team performance than skill at the lower levels (Junior,intermediate, Saturday/Sunday League)

Whether or not it's popular, it's correct.

I don't think the fitness should necessarily come completely at the expense of ball work but if you're not fit enough to win a race to a ball, chase your man to tackle him, keep ahead of anyone trying to tackle you, then it won't matter how good you are with the ball because you won't have your hands on it for too long.

Yuser.

I didn't mean to be definitive there about the ball

It's a combination of talent, fitness and coaching imo

Talent usually wins out and is to be admired

Insect Overlord

I think the point I was trying to make was more about functional fitness. All I remember is the whole panel being made to run in one direction at the same time, at the same pace, turn right, turn left like an army drill, rather than the kind of multi-directional movements and changes of pace we might have needed in a match situation.

paw patrol

Dtp1979 wrote: »

To make sure and take your protein shake within 15 mins after your workout

if that's the worst advise you ever got you got off lightly. off course it's not true but it's not terrible advise either (not gonna kill you)



One of the issues with advice (and many forums where where this advise spews from) is people get this golden nugget of info from somebody..


for example.
I know McGregors coach and he says A B C


when the truth is that such advise is highly specific to elite athletes with genetics that drive them above the common man at that sport.

The advise is probably not that applicable (if ,at all) to you not matter how hard to work.
If it could be - i.e you are elite you probably aren't on a forum seeking advise from some lad stealing one liners off alan aragon /martin mcdonald types.


anyway the worst advice I got (and still see) if when Coachs/PT or Instagram famous tell you something is better or more inefficient. They completely ignore the psychological factors and assume everybody is robotic and forget that a person turning up to train is #1 and that's the overriding factor.

Patsy167

paw patrol wrote: »

if that's the worst advise you ever got you got off lightly. off course it's not true but it's not terrible advise either (not gonna kill you)



One of the issues with advice (and many forums where where this advise spews from) is people get this golden nugget of info from somebody..


for example.
I know McGregors coach and he says A B C


when the truth is that such advise is highly specific to elite athletes with genetics that drive them above the common man at that sport.

The advise is probably not that applicable (if ,at all) to you not matter how hard to work.
If it could be - i.e you are elite you probably aren't on a forum seeking advise from some lad stealing one liners off alan aragon /martin mcdonald types.


anyway the worst advice I got (and still see) if when Coachs/PT or Instagram famous tell you something is better or more inefficient. They completely ignore the psychological factors and assume everybody is robotic and forget that a person turning up to train is #1 and that's the overriding factor.

100% this. I wish there was a rule that all nutrition & fitness advice must be prefaced with context and state the target audience that it applies too; it would eliminate so much misunderstanding and overthinking.

So much time is wasted worrying about concepts and protocols that apply to 1% of the population.

purifol0

Current worst advice advocated by pretty much everyone and is wrong is that exercise is not as important as diet.

I LOATHE this advice because the truth is exercise will directly influence your diet and mitigate cravings for junk food & regular snacking.

People treat diet and exercise as two completely separate things, when the truth is they are directly related.

Since I've been on the work from home I find I can do a workout at 2pm and not feel like having lunch at all and not until dinnertime. That's typical of what exercise can do for you - pull calories from fat instead of you just eating more to feel full. When I was at the office I had to eat lunch and would be absolutely starving if I didn't. It's nice to have abs again in my late 30's!

Alf Veedersane

purifol0 wrote: »

Current worst advice advocated by pretty much everyone and is wrong is that exercise is not as important as diet.

I LOATHE this advice because the truth is exercise will directly influence your diet and mitigate cravings for junk food & regular snacking.

People treat diet and exercise as two completely separate things, when the truth is they are directly related.

Since I've been on the work from home I find I can do a workout at 2pm and not feel like having lunch at all and not until dinnertime. That's typical of what exercise can do for you - pull calories from fat instead of you just eating more to feel full. When I was at the office I had to eat lunch and would be absolutely starving if I didn't. It's nice to have abs again in my late 30's!

I don't think anyone would advocate that exercise isn't important but rather that it isn't entirely necessary to create a deficit and the most effective way to create a deficit is by managing your diet.

That's not to say that exercise can't help you manage your diet, and you've illustrated that it does for you.

The reality is that you can exercise regularly and not lose weight because your diet isn't in check.

But no one would/should argue that exercise isn't important.

purifol0

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

I don't think anyone would advocate that exercise isn't important but rather that it isn't entirely necessary to create a deficit and the most effective way to create a deficit is by managing your diet.

That's not to say that exercise can't help you manage your diet, and you've illustrated that it does for you.

The reality is that you can exercise regularly and not lose weight because your diet isn't in check.

But no one would/should argue that exercise isn't important.

Sorry but this is exactly what I'm talking about - if just eating less worked than people wouldn't fail diets.


If you exercise hard (ish) and often you simply wont have to worry about it - your body will regulate its blood sugar levels so cravings cease.


"Just eat less" will also cause you to lose muscle, but its a pretty good tactic if your under age 27 as your body will still produce hormones in enough quantities.



Exercise & specifically weight lifting causes your body to put food energy into muscle cells not fat cells, meaning you don't have to calorie restrict at all for your body to look better and for you to be less fat. This directly contradicts your reply.



So if you are rocking a dad bod and aren't massively obese lifting weights is straight up better than calorie restriction.

Alf Veedersane

purifol0 wrote: »

Sorry but this is exactly what I'm talking about - if just eating less worked than people wouldn't fail diets.

There are a million different reasons that people fail diets and few have anything to do with exercise.

purifol0 wrote: »

If you exercise hard (ish) and often you simply wont have to worry about it - your body will regulate its blood sugar levels so cravings cease.

That's just not true

purifol0 wrote: »

"Just eat less" will also cause you to lose muscle, but its a pretty good tactic if your under age 27 as your body will still produce hormones in enough quantities.

I specifically mentioned weight loss. Exercise will burn calories to create a deficit so it's much of a muchness. You're specifically talking about resistance training it seems. And I don't disagree that a calorie deficit will result in muscle loss unless you do resistance training to mitigate muscle loss. But for weight loss, a calorie deficit alone will work.

purifol0 wrote: »

Exercise & specifically weight lifting causes your body to put food energy into muscle cells not fat cells, meaning you don't have to calorie restrict at all for your body to look better and for you to be less fat. This directly contradicts your reply.

Steady on with the bro science. If what you're saying above was true, people wouldn't put on fat when they bulked.

But, as I already said, I would never advocate not exercising and would advise sone form of resistance training.

But losing weight is down to controlling caloric intake and doesn't necessarily need to involve exercise.